Customer Service Manager

American President Lines; Durban; On-site; ZAR 600 000 - 800 000; Full time

Job summary

A global shipping company is seeking a Customer Services Manager in Durban, South Africa. This role encompasses managing a dedicated team to ensure optimal customer experience across all interactions. Key responsibilities include resolving customer queries, enhancing digital engagement, and facilitating team training. Ideal candidates should possess a relevant tertiary qualification and proven supervisory experience in shipping or logistics, alongside strong analytical and leadership skills.

Qualifications

• Minimum years of supervisory/management experience in Shipping Line and Agency required.
• Ability to work under pressure is crucial.
• Must be confident, patient, and tactful when dealing with customers.

Responsibilities

• Manage and improve customer experience to increase satisfaction.
• Coordinate with various departments to resolve customer queries.
• Train and coach staff to maintain high standards of service.

Skills

Analytical skills

Problem-solving skills

Leadership skills

Organizational skills

Interpersonal skills

MS Office proficiency

Advanced Excel literacy

Education

Relevant tertiary qualification

Job description

ID: 573317

Location: Durban, ZA

Led by Rodolphe Saadé, the CMA CGM Group, a global leader in shipping and logistics, serves more than 420 ports around the world on five continents. With its subsidiary CEVA Logistics, a world leader in logistics, and its air freight division CMA CGM AIR CARGO, the CMA CGM Group is continually innovating to offer its customers a complete and increasingly efficient range of new shipping, land, air and logistics solutions.

Committed to the energy transition in shipping, and a pioneer in the use of alternative fuels, the CMA CGM Group has set a target to become Net Zero Carbon by 2050.
Through the CMA CGM Foundation, the Group acts in humanitarian crises that require an emergency response by mobilizing the Group’s shipping and logistics expertise to bring humanitarian supplies around the world.

Present in 160 countries through its network of more than 400 offices and 750 warehouses, the Group employs more than 155,000 people worldwide, including 4,000 in Marseilles where its head office is located.

Role

The Customer Services Manager will have a national responsibility to manage, anticipate and improve the customer experience from CMA CGM in South Africa and Botswana. Primary responsibility entails building and managing a customer services team, which receives all import and export customer queries, and ensure resolution to customers within the agreed turnaround times. Liaising with other departments, business units, Shared Service Centre in India and CMA CGM offices abroad is integral in the resolution process.

The manager is responsible to ensure the team is always motivated, able to overcome challenges and delivering the highest standard of customer experience in the market and as per CMA CGM HO policy. Be the champion of E-Commerce Systems, engaging and assisting customers to utilize the CMA CGM platform and creating an awareness and preparing the market towards CMA CGM vision of digitalization.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for improving customer experience with the goal of increasing customer satisfaction
• Effective use of three disciplines to improve customer experiences: customer loyalty management, customer relationship management and customer value management
• Collaborate with Quality & Process manager to implement best practices cross functionality to deliver seamless customer service
• Liaise with relevant departments, collating all responses to resolve customer queries
• Improve the customers’ experience when managing customer disputes
• Provide accuracy, empathy and tact when managing customer disputes
• Customer Queries under scope in addition to the above responsibilities
• Visit to Customers to review mutual performances
• Enhance and increase the E-Commerce/ Digital Experience of RSA Customers
• Manage staff recruitment and appraisals
• Train & Coach staff to deliver a high standard of customer service
• Manage and monitor the original bill stationery handling process – with relevantly approved customers using our E-platform
• Manager user discipline and quality levels on iConnect (telephony system) and NOVA cases TAT as per prescribed kpis
• Work in collaboration with CX Manager and CS Supervisor, towards achieving continuous Customer Experience Improvement
• Staff development managed as per individual users’ performance levels and gap analysis
• Ensure TPS and NPS call closures and relevant documented actions plans, with deadlines captured onto the FBL tool and customer feedback given timeously

Skills and Qualifications

• Relevant tertiary qualification plus minimum years of supervisory/management experience in Shipping Line and Agency
• Good analytical and problem-solving skills meeting customer demands and internal deadlines
• Motivational skills and an ability to lead a big team
• Ability to work under pressure
• Organisation and planning skills
• Confidence, patience, politeness, tact and diplomacy, when dealing with difficult situations
• High level MS Office proficiency
• Accuracy with figures and possess advanced Excel literacy
• Interpersonal skills and good sense of communication make you a valuable team player and able to protect the best interests of our Company.